Keeping The Christmas Spirit Alive All Year

THIS is a beautiful and happy time of the year. We just observed Thanksgiving and now we are preparing for the great Feast of Christmas.

For a lot of people, it can be a very sad time. Our thoughts turn to family members who have died and of others who have moved away. We think of our troops in faraway lands, and we pray for their safety and speedy return home.

Christmas is about little children and how their innocence makes things better for all of us.

We also will pray for the gift of peace which the Infant of Bethlehem brought to the world at that first Christmas more than 2,000 years ago.

During this special time, we are encouraged to comfort the lonely, give generously to the needy, reach out to strangers, make peace and forgive and ask for forgiveness if we have hurt someone. We must also learn something about our faith and be open to wonder and surprise. If we do these things, then Christmas will be a happy and blessed time for us all.

It is a time when people put aside their differences and appear to be happy. They send greetings and wish friends and even strangers the best of the holiday season.

How beautiful it would be if the spirit of Christmas, would be alive in the world all year long!

I recall a column I wrote several years ago. I related a true story written by Mary Ellen Hughes, who now lives in Grove City, Ohio. She called it, "The Year Mom Made the Christmas Tree." Mary Ellen's mom lives on National Road, west of Brookside.

Mary Ellen wrote in her first paragraph, "As age and nostalgia sets in, we tend to look back on Christmas past and think of the one that will be forever special in our hearts and minds." She writes about the Christmas of 1950 and she says the memories of that Christmas are as clear as if they happened yesterday.

For me, it will always be the Christmas of 1956, and the special crib set my dad built as we observed as a family what turned out to be his last Christmas on earth.

All of us are caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. However, I hope we don't lose track of what Christmas is all about. First and foremost, it is the birthday of the Infant Jesus, and then everything else follows.

Yes, it is about giving, sharing and visiting. It is about gratitude for what we have, giving to and sharing with others who have nothing, and visiting those who are homebound and in hospitals and nursing homes.

There are a lot of good things going on in our Ohio Valley this time of the year. Everyone is in a generous mood and contributions are being made to make sure those in need are not forgotten.

Years from now we won't remember the Christmas when we got the most expensive gift. Like Mary Ellen, we will remember the one which brought us the most happiness, the most satisfaction.

We will remember what we did to make life better for someone less fortunate than we. We will remember ringing the Salvation Army bell or bringing canned goods to a church, school or community center. We will recall with happiness going caroling, or visiting a hospital or nursing home to bring cheer or even a small gift to someone who has nothing.

What a beautiful place our world would be if the spirit of Christmas would last throughout the year. Really, it can. All we have to do is remember to keep the Infant Jesus in our lives. He is the One who gives us direction and brings us happiness and peace.

When Christmas arrives, I pray it will be a happy one for all. May the Infant of Bethlehem come into our hearts and homes and give us the real gifts of peace, hope and love, and may those gifts abide with us in the New Year and always.

By ED POLLI, Times Leader Staff Writer